The defendant, Randy Lynne, said in his confessions that he stormed the mosque out of revenge for the US soldiers who had been killed or injured by Muslims. But in his bill of indictment, the judge replied to these justifications saying that perpetrators of hatred crimes such as Randy want to destroy what’s beyond buildings. “They target our manner of life, because our freedom is greater than that man’s grudge.”
The last statement will not have a counterpart in a bill of indictment by an Egyptian court to any aggressor against churches, or even mosque mausoleums, which have been targets of attack, burning and partial or complete demolition. Indeed, you will not even find any conviction or indictment in most of these cases.
In fact, the grudge of the churches’ aggressors, who are motivated by their religious hatred, is being “understood” (hence justified) in “reconciliation meetings. “These used to be held under the auspices of the State security agency and the members of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, but are now sponsored by delegations from Al-Azhar, Salafist and Brotherhood elders and even the church. Meanwhile, the regime continues to be in denial — just like the previous regime. Morsi continues with the Brotherhood’s habitual lying, as he just did in his recent interview with Al-Jazeera, when he assured that what is called “sectarian strife” is nothing but normal – and not sectarian – quarrels. As if it were normal that after a crime committed by an Egyptian Christian, or a quarrel between a Muslim and a Christian, the incident turns into a revengeful attack against all the Christians in the surrounding area –including their places of worship that bear no relation to the original incident. What could be more sectarianism?
However, it seems that the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi and his presidential team are mixing lies with ignorance, and adding to them insolence, turning a blind eye to the dwindling status of religious freedom, and also adding more of religious grudge and hatred to the national community.
A few days ago, a presidential spokesman said that Egypt shall remain a (Muslim) “Sunni” country. I have no doubt that neither the member of the failing presidential team nor the president himself realize the limits of their task, which does not include deciding the future beliefs of the people of Egypt. But I understand that he, his president, and his (Brotherhood) group, in order to minimize the malice of their Salafist allies regarding the return of the Iranian tourism, had to reassure the great hatred in their hearts with some nonsense.
Realizing the malice of the churches aggressors, and reassuring the malice of the anti-Shi’a instigators, is a political behavior consistent with the truth of “Our grudge is greater than our freedom.”
When it comes to religion, our freedom barely exists in the first place, as there are limited options. It’s either you are Sunni Muslim, Christian (Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant), or Jewish, in order for the state to allow you – theoretically! – to practice your worship. But, of course, you are not free to be Christian, Jewish, or non-Sunni Muslim, and think to practice your religious freedom equally with the Sunni Muslim. Dhimmi, denominations cannot build a house of worship without the consent of the Caliph. This is according to the Ottoman decree issued in 1856 which, by the way, mimics the best constitution in human history when it stipulates the equality of all citizens of the Ottoman state in rights and duties, but in essence, it discriminates by making the building of any worship house (other than mosques, of course) conditional to obtaining a license from the Caliph himself!
And since we do not seem to have gone beyond the denominational status under the Sunni Ottoman Caliphate, it is the president who now holds the authority to approve permits for places of worship instead of a Caliph. Until, that is, the issuing of a law that allows the building of worship places, or the return of the Caliphate — whichever comes first!
In sum: There is – legally speaking – no religious freedom in Egypt, neither to Muslims nor to others. But there is a dominating and restrictive status that the authorities can, at will, use against a person or a group.
This situation is certainly ideal to the powerful to practice his freedom depending on his power and not on his right and freedom. It is also ideal for the powerful to keep the weaker and the different one under the threat of abuse of authority, or the grudge of those who hate differences or hate other human beings whichever hatred is greater.
The legal status of the religious freedom in Egypt is ideal for providing sectarian hatred with ground to attack a church that might have been awaiting for decades a license from the president personally, or to attack a home where some Shi’as, Baha’is or Muslims accused of being believers of the Quran only but not the Sunni tradition, gather.
Sectarian hatred is the closest friend of the Islamic domineers. The Islamic domineers, who turn each political situation to a battle between Islam and its enemies, cannot forego sectarian hatred as an electoral ally. It is the “thug” who serves them in the times of crisis.. In the meantime, they cover up and deny the existence of that thug and his actions, and keep him waiting for investing the sectarian hatred in support of a new authoritarian decree or an upcoming battle of the polls.
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Article translated (by H.Hanna) for Coptic Solidarity from the original published in Al-Masry Al-Youm (http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/1672871)